MoMA's Tribute to Spike Jonze

More than 400 bodies graced the Museum of Modern Art on Thursday night to listen to Spike Jonze and some skater dudes wax philosophical about skateboarding. Plaid, the deep musk of beards, and thick-rimmed glasses set the scene.

The panel discussion was presented by Pop Rally and the MoMA as part of the museum's retrospective, "Spike Jonze: The First 80 Years." Although Jonze is known for directing reality-suspended music videos for the likes of Björk and Beastie Boys, and surreal films like Adaptation and Where The Wild Things Are—which opens this weekend—he got his start shooting skateboarding videos with his buddies. Filmmaker Patrick O'Dell took some of said videos, all from the `80s to the present, and presented them to the audience, intercutting each showing with Q&As with the filmmakers and skate stars. The panel discussed their evolution as filmmakers and boarders: from Super-8 home videos to stylized portraits, from the gnarly 360s to the timeless wipeouts. Some panel members seemed to have been more affected by the wipeouts, as the conversations grew more ridiculous and more indecipherable. But the audience was into it, enjoying the tales of a bunch of bros just talking about their boards.

Following the panel, LA guitar/drums duo No Age provided some nostalgic noise from their 2008 album Nouns to cap off the night, while listeners double-fisted free baby-sized Colt 45s. Needless to say, it was a night of utter class.

The Jonze retrospective, a part of the Filmmaker in Focus series, ends this Sunday, October 18th.